“Will you come again?” This is the question that I and my team were asked constantly as we visited villages in our country’s beautiful but difficult eastern border areas* from April to June. As we drove many hours along narrow, winding roads, I kept pondering this question, feeling the responsibility to not leave these isolated […]

I should have known better. I’ve done enough trips to report on Bible Society work to know that I should always expect the unexpected. Anybody, anywhere and at any time, can have a story to tell. More importantly, I should have known to expect the unexpected from God. That day, in a desolate, decaying industrial […]

When I was asked to help at the UBS Publishing Convention in the Netherlands earlier this year I knew that I would spend the week rushing around, juggling various tasks. And that did happen. But something else totally unexpected happened that week that I will never forget. I experienced the beauty and agony of God’s […]

Partnership with a spouse, … service of a harsh boss, … sharing toys with a sibling … . We all know how difficult these things can be! In United Bible Societies, we have often talked about ‘partnership’ and ‘service’ – between Bible Societies, and between UBS and a wide range of other organisations and churches. […]

I have always thought I am really blessed to have a job like mine, through which I am able to see firsthand God at work through Bible Society ministry around the world. But my recent trip to Algeria was unique. It was about ‘going back home’ to where a piece of my heart is, even […]

Every translator of the Bible is confronted with this dilemma from time to time: how can you find a good equivalent for a concept that is utterly foreign to your culture? During my recent visit to Tanzania I had the privilege to work with the Kihehe Bible translation team. Kihehe is a language spoken by […]

On 1st November 1889, 29 girls and women lost their lives in one of Glasgow’s worst industrial disasters, when Templeton’s Carpet Factory in the city’s east end collapsed (also known as the ‘Greenhead disaster’). Many others were injured, some seriously. A memorial garden paying tribute to the victims will this year undergo a renovation as […]

Very soon churches in the West will be celebrating the feast of Pentecost (it falls on May 19th this year). Pentecost means ’50th day’, and this important event in the Church calendar comes 50 days after Easter, and marks the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus. Among the miracles accompanying that […]

The life of a United Bible Societies Global Translation Advisor involves a lot of travel and just recently, over a period of five weeks, I flew between three countries – Cuba, Costa Rica and Jamaica. Although my tasks in these three countries varied, the goal was the same – to help people come to a […]

If you’re a Bible-believing, church-going Christian living in Europe, you’re in a minority. In the UK, where I live, only 4% of the population regularly attends church. Our colleagues at American Bible Society are concerned to see the beginning of a similar move away from Christianity in their country: among 18-29 year olds, one-in-four report […]